Was Caylee Anthony Killed by Accident?

One of the commenters on this blog stated that they actually believe that Caylee was killed as a result of an accident. Anybody interested in starting a discussion on this accident theory should reply to this post.

Not everyone is convinced that Caylee died as a result of asphyxiation from chloroform. Remember, we have not seen substantive evidence that this was the cause of death. We only know that there was the presence of chloroform in the trunk of the car. The forensic lab where the tests were performed refer to the quantity as “trace.” Nancy Grace, of course, describes the trunk as having been “saturated with chloroform.” While I never attended med school, the quantitative difference between these two standards seems vast to me. I am hanging with the science nerds on this one. Remember, too, that those same science nerds have cautioned us that a decomposing body naturally releases chloroform. Allow me to interject at this point that if ever it is proven to me that there was a higher concentration of chloroform in the trunk of Casey’s car than a decomposing body can exude, then I will consider the accident theory debunked.

Then why the computer searches on “uses of” and “how to make” chlorform? It’s entirely possible that this was idle curiosity on Casey’s part. You will recall that one of her boyfriends had posted remarks about chloroform on MySpace, and Casey’s research was subsequent to her reading her friend’s remarks. In fact, word on the street is that young adults have been experimenting with chloroform for some time. It reportedly produces a heightened sexual experience when used as prescribed by this peer group.

This case is so very highly profiled in the media, people are attaching too much importance to certain items of evidence while ignoring other facts which are just as significant, and just as deserving of examination.

One can cite the following:

George watches Casey and Caylee leave, wearing their backpacks, on the 16th of June. Within an hour and a half, Casey is frantically and repeatedly trying to reach her parents, alternating between their office phones and cell phones. The frenetic series of calls ended abruptly.

The Anthonys discover that the pool ladder, which had been securely locked in the shed, was reattached to the side of the pool.

This accident theory is rather simple. Casey and Caylee returned to the house after George had gone to work. (To pack more personal items? To ransack her parents’ house for something she could steal and sell?) I believe that Caylee begged to swim, and Casey relented. Caylee swam in her shorts because their swimsuits were already at Casey’s friend’s house. Casey may have watched her as any mother would, then taken her out of the pool so that she, Casey could go inside. She allowed Caylee to play in the fenced yard as she had dozens of times before. Tragically, Casey forgot that the ladder was still attached to the pool. Think about it, friends. We know that Casey is crafty and attempts to cover her tracks. If Casey was the one to place the ladder at the side of the pool, it would take an extraordinary event to cause her to forget to put it back. Casey discovered the horrific result of her negligence far too late, then attempted repeatedly to call her parents. As reality set in, Casey lost her nerve, unable to bear the consequences of her parents’ shock and grief, unwilling to admit that what must have been her one thousandth screw-up also happened to be the ultimate one.

We know that Caylee’s little body was in the trunk of Casey’s car for a minimum of two days. It was during this period of time that Casey concocted her story.

The discovery of Caylee’s remains on December 11th, actually bolsters rather than dispels the accident theory. Even though investigators believe that the probable date of death was the 16th of June, Caylee was found with a different outfit than the one she was wearing when George saw her. She was found in the outfit Casey dressed her in after she’d gotten her out of the pool the first time.

Can someone point to solid evidence that might serve to disprove this accident theory? It’s heartbreaking to watch this tragedy played on a global stage, especially if the investigators’ conclusions are wrong and Casey really is innocent of intentional homicide.

I do not believe it to be an accident, and here’s why; First, and most important, “if” it had been an accident, Casey would have cracked long ago from guilt and for missing little Caylee. She would have been visibly depressed at times. The people around her would have known “something” was upsetting her. Second, the fact that she was researching ways to kill tells me she premeditated doing harm to “someone”, and since Caylee is dead, why should we not believe her to be the “intended” target?

I have thought this same thing all along. Talked about it over and over again with people I know and work with. In my opinion, Casey was lying to her parents before this accident happened only do act as 22 year olds act. I do not believe that her behavior was so out of the ordinary. And quite possibly, “zanny the nanny” is her friend Annie who used to babysit Caylee for Casey until she found out Casey did not have a job. I do not believe that the nanny had Caylee, I think she was with Casey all along. I have always thought that she drowned in the pool. My theory went something very similar to yours but with only Casey went in and got into the myspace or a conversation on facebook with someone and Caylee got back in the pool. I am very familiar with children of that age and 1.) they are roamers, 2.) have to be watched at ALL times or they will get into something, 3.) love to swim!! I had a registered daycare for years, and an above ground pool in the back yard. We put up a chain link fence with a lock around it to keep the little ones out. It is clear to me that Casey 1.) was a typical 22 year old first time mother; 2.) cared deeply for her daughter; 3.) experienced the difficulty and pressures of raising a baby when you are a baby. I am not defending Casey, I am simply trying to make sense of it all. One more thought…the chemicals from the pool on Caylee’s clothes or diaper left in the trunk with the heat can produce chloroform. I looked that up months ago. I do think that Casey had major feelings for this Ricardo person and when he posted that on his myspace she wanted to know what he meant. I also believe that she was jealous of Amy being able to travel to Puerto Rico and the relationship that eventually took place between her “best friend” and Ricardo. But that part is the drama side….
Just my thoughts.

Casey’s frantically and repeatedly trying to reach her parents, on the 16th of June gives strong support for accidental death. Nevertheless, the onus was on Casey to admit that it was an accident up front. In fact, Casey was given the opportunity to admit to accidental death by the prosecution as a plead deal.

My problem with this theory is that if this is what happened, then why did Casey only try to call her parents?

Why didn’t she first call 911? An accident is an accident. No one would have faulted her for this. Negligent, yes, but these things unfortunately occur all the time.

Wouldn’t when she found Caylee, have panic in her voice, begun screaming her name, trying to revive her, reacting verbally in some way that a neighbor might hear?

I believe that her neighbors heard nothing odd from the house. But that
Casey did manage to show up and ask to borrow a shovel.

If she has the calm demeanor after her child has accidentally drowned to saunter next door and casually ask to borrow their shovel, why wouldn’t she have the presence of mind to rush over to ask for their help with her child?

I just can’t buy the accident theory anymore.

I think the rash of phone calls to her parents were her own preventative measures to either get back into the fold or to keep from killing Caylee.

She had just had a huge fight with them, they’d made it known they were done with her crap and were going to kick her out.

I think the phone calls were her last ditch effort to make good with them, and the calls were ignored. I believe they were ignored deliberately.

At this point I think that Casey figured they just might really be done with her and she got rid of Caylee then in anger and frustration, and to get back at her parents.

Remember, she then takes off for a month to party hearty.

Even if your child accidentally died, and you panicked and covered it up, your demeanor would NOT be to party like it’s 1999. You’d be scared, withdrawn, depressed, moody.

I agree completely. I do not believe she drowned. If this were the case, she would have called 911, in hopes that Caylee could be revived. I just do not buy this for a minute. Of course, she would be scared, anyone would be, but she would have been in a panic; calling 911, trying to do CPR, running little Caylee to a neighbors, something. Also, she would have been so sad, guilty, and such that she would have shown this at times. Everyone around her said she seemed “very” happy, and did not show any signs of being upset. This you cannot explain, no matter how you cut the mustard. And when questioned, she would have eventually cracked from guilt. She has shown no emotion. And, why the duct tape? Did she try to cover the accident by making it look like an abduction? I just do not feel any parent could just “go on” as if nothing had happened to their precious child for this long; maybe a few days, but eventually it would become hard to push down.

I agree not an accident. She may have tried to make it look like an accident but if it was an accident could she have calmly gone over later that night to Tonys house and then rented a couple of movies, one of them pretty gruesome? (Untraceable) It doesnt make any sense. The computer records show, which someone on websleuths analyzed, that there was activity on the Anthonys home computer between 2 and 3pm. That would have had to be Casey as both George and Cindy were gone for work. After that there was a flurry of phone calls from Caseys cel phone and then she was on the move again. To me there wasnt time for her to do anything that day to Caylee. It made more sense to me that incensed from her fight with her mother on Sunday the 15th she killed Caylee that night, and then after her father left for work on the 16th came back to the house hid Caylees body in the backyard, and then got on the computer to search
for (possibly) names like Zenaida. Then she made that “flurry” of phone calls – why I still dont understand but then she left and went to Tonys. She came back the 18th for a shovel, which she changed her mind about using, backed the car into the garage and put Caylees body in the trunk. Eventually leaving her in the woods sometime later. Thats my theory – probably full of holes!

George did say he saw them both on the morning of the 16th. I believe he is telling the truth. I believe she killed her sometime that day, or shortly after. She kept her in the trunk awhile, and after not knowing what to do with her (as she was beginning to smell bad), she threw the into the woods (scraped off the squirrels). Her complete lack of remorse, denial of truth, and total lack of emotion says premeditated.

Sophie, good points. I agree that it was not an accident for your reasons. The boyfriend Tony said in deposition that Casey stayed with him the night of the 16th and Casey was calm and relaxed.

I think that Casey let that child get into the pool and just walked away until she was sure she was dead. And here my theory of details:

Father’s Day night, Casey had a huge argument with her parents because Cindy discovered that Casey had written checks off of her parent’s nursing home account and the nursing home was going to report her to the police. Cindy, the enabler, quietly put the stolen money back in to the account and that ended that. (Recall that was the day that the last video of Caylee was done when Cindy took Caylee to the nursing home, so it seems logical too.) It was reported that in the confrontation Cindy had gotten physical with Casey, including choking her. I think that Casey, with Caylee, left that night and that George made it up that she left the next day, hence the confusion about what they were wearing.

The flurry of phone calls to GA and CAs cell phones were to keep checking to see if they were coming home early and might catch her. She first hid the body in the back yard, that is why the dogs hit on an area behind the pool, where there was a small indentation between the pool wall and the fence. Casey came back (within a day or so) and moved the body to her car and carried it around looking for a good place to get rid of the body. That would also explain all of her cell phone pings out by the airport and other wooded areas. She finally settled on the area where she buried her childhood pets.

I also believe that Cindy who is such a control freak, knew more than she admitted, but was able to stay in denial. When Lee went to pick up Casey’s belongings at Tony’s about midnight on June 16, it took him almost 3 hours to do that, way longer than it should have taken. (Did he tamper with evidence?) In what he brought back, only Casey’s belongings were in the duffel bag. Cindy would be well aware that during the past month, no clothes were taken from the child’s room for that entire month.

That family threw Caylee under the bus very early on and continued to do so by using the child’s funeral as an opportunity to send coded messages to Casey (who was watching it on her lawyer’s wi-fi computer at the jail).
CA……CA…..CA

I am unable to believe in an accident because of the constant and multiple lies told by Casey. None of that was necessary in an accident scenario. And you don’t need to dump your child’s body like garbage if the death was an accident.

I firmly believe that Casey killed the child in a fit of jealousy or temper. Any way that you look at it the child is dead and Casey did it. And there hasn’t been a show of loss, sadness, or remorse since then. Party girl partied like crazy. No normal parent or even person behaves like that after the loss of a child.

that all sounds well and good in defense of Casey, but how do you explain the tape around her mouth/skull..If she drowned as you suggest, what would be the puropse of the tape..Either way, Casey knows how it happened, accident or intentional..she just needs to confess

At first I thought it may have been an accident…and that she just totally freaked out in fear. She had stolen so much money from her parents and grandparents and was busted for it….I thought maybe she feared telling anyone about what happened to Caylee because she thought her parents would turn her in for the theft and fraud.

But as time went on…and like everyone else I heard more and more of the media reports…and looked at evidence…My thinking changed. It just doesn’t look like it was an accident. Sadly my gut keeps telling me Casey was terribly angry with her mother and knew Caylee was the center of George and Cindy’s world. We know for sure that Cindy had seen a psychologist and was advised to kick Casey out and get custody of Caylee.

As uncomfortable as it makes me feel as a mother…I can’t help but think that Casey killed Caylee to punish her mother…by taking Caylee away forever!

Jessie Grund had an interesting theory…he said he felt Casey might have planned to adopt Caylee out to someone and was trying to make it look like an abduction…and something went terribly wrong.

However…only 3 know what happened…Casey, Caylee, and God. I seriously doubt Casey will ever come clean with the truth…unless it benefits her in some way…and if she did… at this point who would even believe anything she says?

I’m one of the accident theorists. However, you have raised my doubts again. Excellent discussion on the murder theory. I hope we can continue our discussion as this drama unfolds. This drama is a 21st century
Shakespeare drama, the plot, the cast of characters, ( the family, the lawyers, Leornard Padilla, Nancy Grace, Geraldo an other the media talking heads, the friends), and the blog world as a Greek chorus off to the side of the stage.

Hamlet, Macbeth- you name it.

Whether accident or premeditated murder, Cindy and Casey – 2 Alpha Women- are real pieces of work so to speak. Caylee Anthony will be the 21st century poster child for just about everything wrong with a disfunctional family out of control.

my theory on the duct tape is that Casey knew she had been lying about the job and the nanny for so long…she did not want to be responsible for her daughters death or she would be disowned. She continued her lies with the nanny scenerio all the way up until her arrest. The duct tape was placed there I believe with the Disney bag as well to stage a death after abduction by the nanny. If she was to have her family believe, especially her mother that she was not responsible then she had to go on living like nothing happened. I think she was overwhelmed with fear of being caught for all of her lies. And maybe she knew CPR…taught in highschools these days. Maybe she tried to revive Caylee herself and knew she was dead. I know CPR, and if my daughter was drowning in a pool, i would most certainly try to revive her before I called 911. The call would be a waste of precious time. The authorities are not all that they are craked up to be. Alot of times it takes them hours to get somewhere…They are not the be all end all…they just want us to believe they are.

How then, do you explain the duct tape over the child’s mouth and the residue in the shape of a heart on top of the duct tape? I see that as an attempt to silence the child, which went horribly wrong, or a VERY macabre clean-up the accident/crime scene and/or prepare Caylee for burial. Remember, Casey wanted Caylee to have a “burial spot I can visit in the future.”

Some of you have some very interesting points but I still don’t believe this was accidental. First of all because of the facts you’ve already pointed out, not calling 911, not reporting her for 31 days, and afterwards not showing any signs of grief.

But more importantly, to me anyway, is the opinion of the medical examiner, Dr. Jan C. Garavaglia. Because I don’t have TV I had never heard of this woman before, but judging from everyone’s mention of her on-line, she is very intelligent and very respected.

She said that Caylee was murdered. After the autopsy she said, “The manner of the death in this case is homicide. The cause of death will be listed as homicide by unknown means.” If she believes Caylee was murdered that’s good enough for me.

Casey went to great lengths to weave a story that still did not hold up on cross examination. I think that she wanted to make the crime scene look as if the kidnapper, Zanny, had left the duck-taped child in the woods. As far as the objects that were found around the child, they all came from the Anthony house, but if you recall, one of the many pieces of information that Casey planted during the hours of jailhouse video tapes was when she told Cindy, “Remember Mom, I gave Zanny a key to the house.” There is no way that Cindy would have put up with a person she had not met would have a key to her house. No one would. She has destroyed any possibility that the defense could be “accidental death”.

I think you will never get the truth now. she is getting all the attention she ever wanted from all her lawyers. She knows exactly how to wind them around her little finger. This is the most excitement she ever had in her life. Just look at the way she looks at her lawyers. She’s got them believing her.

No accident. No guilt. No upset. No remorse. No nothing—a flat affect, except when she’s shedding tears for her own situation. Or dancing at nightclubs and texting friends about hot body contests. Not a devastated mother wo lost her child in an awful accident. Lies, lawyered up families who do not cooperate add up to a family complicit. I don’t believe a damn thing George, Cindy or Lee said.

I do not believe anyone has forgotten Dr. G concluding this was homicide. However, this was based on the duct tape being placed over the mouth. There is no way they can prove if the tape was put over her mouth before she died or after. I am sure it was intentional, but they have no way of telling how she died, unless Casey admits to something. I agree, the duct tape indicates harm was meant to be done, and the fact that she carried on like nothing had happened, and lied to everyone says she meant what she had done, and wasn’t sorry for it.

Interesting question. The only thing that has recently changed is that Lee said that it took place in Blanchard Park instead of the Saw Grass. Casey informed him and Cindy when she was out on bail, but neither thought that it was important enough to tell the police. They are all such liars. GA, LA and CA should get charged with obstruction with all that they did to keep LE off on wrong tracks. Maybe not GA because he did come clean in his deposition to the Grand Jury. He seems to be heavily pressured by CA and LA to keep up with the lies.

There is some key incriminating evidence that LE has not disclosed yet. You can tell because the defense is complaining about things that they have not received yet. Therefore, I do not think that the defense is decided yet. If LE has some show stoppers, I think that they will chose insanity because she will be nailed cold with forensic and unrefutable crime scene evidence. The hardest fact to overcome by LE is that the ME was unable to state cause of death, only that she was murdered.

LE may have some evidence that Casey has a second driver’s license that has the Zanaida Gonzoles name and has used. Potentially very very big. Only speculation now, but a lot of amateur sleuths are trying to find that out. (Stay tuned for this one because it could be the link that shows that Casey’s ZG is entirely made up by Casey). That would also change the defense’s story. I bet ol’ Leonard Padilla will find out.

So, I do not have a theory right now as to what their defense will be (and neither do they). What is yours?

George said he saw Caylee and Casey on the 16th. We don’t know that to be true, do we. I think spoiled brat left the house with Caylee after the horrible FIGHT with her mother (where she was choked by her), in an out of control RAGE! I think she killed this THORN IN HER SIDE – within hours. Yes, also to punish her CONTROLLING mother.
After all, Caylee was starting to talk, and was becoming even MORE of a “problem”! The only thing that has made this case as public as it is, is the delay of 31 days before reporting the disappearance, (BY THE GRAND MOTHER), and disgusting lies, cover-ups, interfering with Law Enforcement, by the entire family.
Life without parole for CMA!!!

Manner. Mien. Flat affect. Lack of upset. Lack of grief. Lack of remorse. Devoid of emotion. Attempt to erase Caylee—-both literally and figuratively—ie, deleting photos, not mentioning her name–from her life. No red eyes, no real tears—except when she is contemplating her own dire situation. A mother who accidentally killed her child would not be celebratory, she’d be in a swirling emotional cocoon of hell and grief that would be impossible to hide. I don’t think her voice broke once during those taped police interviews. Or her taped jailhouse visits. Instead, she wonders aloud why her mother is “crying already.”

A genuine accident would cause upset, grief, hysteria. We saw none of these things; instead, a woman out having a good time, posting party photos and buying personal items with stolen funds.

friendlymom-according to John G this is a “mere detail”. This is the most significant finding in the entire case because if this was not a homicide we wouldn;t be here discussing an upcoming trial.

If someone accidently puts thier child to sleep using a megadose of Sudafed, chorloform, sedatives, etc. and the child dies this is considered MURDER. In the state of Florida this is charged as Felony Murder. We have a case in Massachusetts where the mother gave her daughter an overdose of her Ritalin meds and the daughter died in the home a day later.
I will get the specifics on this case so that you can follow along and learn something new.

Remember, also, that no mechanism of death was able to be established. The tape could easily have been attached postmortem. I am not interested in Legalese. I am interested in establishing whether or not Caylee was in fact killed accidentally or intentionally on purpose.

Betty and Jill, Thank you for thinking that my theory is good enough to be giving away something, but I am just one of thousands of Internet sleuths interested in the case. The information in my theories came from very public and used web sites such as the Orlando area TV station sites and crime websites.

I still stick by the theory that is was intentional. It can not be proved by what we know today as to how, but the ME said MURDER. I am hoping that there is enough forensics to prove that the body was placed there in late June or July so that the keystone cop discovery of the site does not make any difference to her getting caught.